A new glass roof will soon cover a Coney Island subway station, allowing solar energy to power the transit hub and cut down on pollution in the neighborhood, officials said.

The roof is part of a $283 million rehab project at the 84-year-old Stillwell Avenue Terminal.

It will be ready in April 2005 and will generate electricity to about 15 percent of the station and cut back on over 17,000 tons of carbon dioxide emissions over the next 40 years.

“This is a one-of-a-kind project,” said Richard Miras, program manager for the Transit Authority’s capital program oversight committee.

The 2,600 panels that will make up the roof are coated with photovoltaic cells that absorb the sun’s rays and convert them into renewable energy for light.

The 76,000-square foot roof, the largest of its kind to cover a transit facility in the country, will not be used to power trains and signals, officials said.

The TA has installed the solar-powered cover at the Gun Hill Road bus depot in The Bronx and plans to have the panels at other facilities, too.

Plans are currently underway to use the technology at the Corona maintenance facility in Queens and the 74th Street/Roosevelt Avenue station in Jackson Heights, where the E, F, R, V and G lines connect to the 7 train.

The renovation of the Stillwell Avenue Terminal will allow the F, D, Q and W trains to shuttle straphangers into the eight-track station starting in May 2004.

The W train is currently the only line that goes to the station.

The rehab project also includes the reconstruction of the entrance and mezzanine level, improved lighting throughout the terminal, and new offices for the NYPD’s District 34 station.

“This station is the gateway to Coney Island,” Miras said. “This project and state-of-the-art roof will attract more people.”